Daggers
by Regulus
Summary: Complete! Things are starting to change at home for Dib and Gaz. A freak snowstorm literally traps the siblings inside. And, as we all know, that's never a good thing. A random, pointless DAGR fluff fic!
1. Xmas Spirit

"I hate my life."

It was true. Too true for him to want to think about. He was ridiculed by everyone. The most he couldmake of his life was chasing a completely incompetant alien around. Even if he became famous, what would he do with the rest of the time given to him? Would he be able to provide for both himself and his sister when their father passed away? And if he couldn't, what would become of them?

The future wasn't any better than the present to Dib. He was nothing but a punching bag to countless people in the present... but thinking about the future scared him in a way he hated to admit. It wasn't so much his own failing that chilled him - it was Gaz. He couldn't fail her. Even though she seemed to outright hate him, he vividly remembered times when he had been able to make her smile or laugh.

He could count them on one hand.

But, he reasoned, he was anything but a quitter. He had put up with the stares and hushed conversations this long. He could see them through to the end, whenever it might come.

Sitting up in bed and rubbing at the back of his head - he hadn't bothered doing anything with his spike for the night - Dib decided on something. Xmas was coming up, after all. And even if it _was_ a horrible, **horrible** bastion of doom and chaos, Dib was still able to recall a time when Xmas was a happy time for him. Well... for the most part...

There was that time when he was five when Gaz nearly put his eye out with her brand-new game system. Curse his father for ever getting her into those!

And then, a year later, he had gotten some really _good _surveillance equipment. Gaz had seen fit to drop it all from the roof to see if it bounced. Sadly enough for Dib, it didn't.

And on and on it went like this. It was a miracle that Dib had retained as much equipment as he had. But that was probably due mostly to the fact that, once Gaz had started to go to Skool, she had _really _found out what a nutjob her brother was. It had been a long, long time since Gaz had set foot in Dib's room.

It was almost like an unspoken law of the house. Neither set foot in the other's room for any reason whatsoever. Dib had mentally added an 'except in case of emergencies' clause, but never verbally admitted to doing so. Dib was quite certain that Gaz would rather die, trapped under a pile of whatever-the-hell-she-had, than be rescued by Dib and kept alive.

Lifting his arm up to check his watch, he saw that it was almost ten at night. With an uneasy plot forming in his mind, Dib got off his bed, wincing at the pain that was sent through his body. His latest fight with that stupid Irken invader had left him feeling the worse for wear. His arms body felt like they were asleep. And not in the 'I sat funny for awhile' way. No, this was more in a 'It aches! Why does it ache! **_WHY_**!' sort of way. His lower back felt as if it needed to be popped in a few places. And, most annoying of all, his right knee was hurting for no apparent reason at all.

Grabbing his trenchcoat and gingerly slipping it on, Dib began searching for his piggy bank. He had gleamed money through various sources for long enough to buy the whole of the awful Skool if he wanted. But he would be leaving that for a much more evil place in the near future. It would be throwing money away. Which, if he stopped to think about it, he was going to be doing anyway. Only this way, it was for a much better cause.

They hadn't celebrated Xmas the last few years. Gaz was never in a mood to celebrate anything, much less a festive occasion. And Dib... Well, he had been chasing Zim around the previous year. He probably would again _this _year, for that matter. But at least there would be _one _present left out, if nothing else.

Smashing the wild-eyed piggie with a conveniently-placed hammer, Dib counted out enough money to get what he needed - it made a sizable dent in his self-kept bank account. But then, if he, for whatever reason, should fail to stop Zim... Well... He wouldn't be needing the rest of it, anyway.

Stuffing the cash into his pants pocket, he headed for the door, hissing as he stepped out into the dim light of the upstairs hallway. The lights were off downstairs and, peering to his left, he saw that Gaz's light was off, as well. That certainly made things easier. He could hopefully get out, make his purchase, and return within an hour. The store wasn't that far away. He only hoped a competant employee was working the late shift. He didn't want some greasy teenager with oily, oozing zits grabbing at what he wanted.

Taking a deep breath, Dib quietly opened the front door and stepped out into the frigid, winter night.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Days passed. Eventually, Xmas Day arrived. Of course, Dib hadn't been able to sleep the previous night. So he did the only thing he could: He went to spy on Zim. This proved to be outright stupid. He wound up in even worse condition than he had been in earlier that week. His arms were aching all over, but every time he went to rub at one spot, the pain would seemingly jump to another.

He trudged back inside just before sunrise, careful not to track any snow in. He couldn't afford anything to go wrong. Of course, his being completely trashed wasn't helping _anything_. But it was all for the better, really. As he shakily made his way up the stairs, he turned to smile crookedly at the large package that was taking up the better part of the couch and coffee table. Dib had had to pull the table closer so the package wouldn't topple onto the floor.

Opening the door to his room as softly as he could, Dib slipped inside and closed it behind him. He crossed the short distance to his bed, slipping his trenchcoat off and tossing it onto the back of his computer chair.

"Another one ruined." He muttered as he fell, face-first, onto his bed, his lower body hanging off it at an awkward angle. With some effort, and no small amount of groaning, he managed to pull the rest of himself up onto the bed. He kept himself conscious just long enough to hear the telltale signs of Gaz waking up. Then he smiled and let the darkness wash over him.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The first thing Dib realized when he woke back up was that it was dark out. The second thing he realized was that his face didn't hurt. Given that he had fallen asleep with his glasses on, it really should have. His nose should have been aching like crazy, in fact. But it wasn't. After a moment, Dib frowned. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so why the hell was everything still so blurry?

That's when he saw them. On the edge of his bed, folded up, were his glasses. They were as blurry as everything else, but the faint amount of moonlight drifting in through his window caused them to shine. Thoroughly confused, Dib reached out and slipped his glasses back on, sucking in a sharp breath as his collarbone popped loudly.

Rolling onto his back, Dib let his eyes slip shut again. A few minutes passed by before he noticed that something didn't quite feel right. For one thing, the house was eerily silent. Given what he had picked up for Gaz, that just didn't make sense. If anything, the house should be booming from explosions and heavy bass riffs.

With a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan, Dib sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He wasn't sure how long he had even been out. Checking his watch as he headed for his door, he saw that it was only a quarter past eight. Things _definitely _should have been louder.

Warily, he slowly opened his door and peeked out. Seeing nothing in his immediate field of vision, Dib opened the door further and stepped out into the hall. Quick glances left and right revealed that no one was waiting to leap at him the moment he left the confines of his bedroom. A light was on downstairs, though.

Heading for the stairs, Dib raised an eyebrow at what he saw when he descended. Gaz was asleep on the couch, a controller in her hands. Her present had been unwrapped - cautiously, it looked like - and hooked up. A pair of overly-long earphones were plugged into the TV, which had a red and blue screen declaring "GAME OVER - CONTINUE?" on it.

Well, that explained the lack of noise. But it raised another question. Why had Gaz bothered with the headphones at all? Surely, she would have loved waking him up with the sounds of vampire piggies getting killed left and right.

Stepping around the large, empty box and the wrapping paper that stood between him and the couch, Dib slowly approached his sister. Sitting down as carefully as he could, he looked at the controller in Gaz's hands, then glanced up to her face again. Feeling strangely brave, he reached out to try and work the controller away from her fingers. Of course, this proved frustratingly difficult, as even in sleep, Gaz had a vice-like grip on the blasted thing.

The slight jarring was enough, though. Gaz's eyes opened slightly, narrowing quickly as the light from the TV flooded them. She then turned to stare at Dib, who was in mid-reach in another attempt to get the controller away from her.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Uh... Nothing! Nothing. Just making sure you were asleep!" Dib said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

Gaz stared at him for a few seconds before letting go of the controller and pulling her headphones off. Setting them down on the arm of the couch, she turned back to Dib and asked, "What?"

Blinking, Dib shrugged. "You didn't look comfortable."

"So?"

"So... I... um... I was going to move you?" Dib tried.

"Move me." Repeated Gaz.

"Uh...yeah. You know, to your room? Upstairs?"

"I know where my room is, Dib." Gaz stated, starting to look impatient.

That wasn't a good sign, Dib thought, his heart starting to race. When Gaz became impatient, Bad Things happened. Usually to him, since he was usually the closest.

Before he could ponder his potentially impending doom, Gaz spoke again. "You didn't roll over and break your glasses."

"Huh? Oh, yeah... They were on the edge of the bed." Dib said, crossing his eyes as if trying to look at his own glasses properly. "I know I feel asleep with them on, though. Not sure how they got over there."

"Someone must have taken them off for you." Gaz said, hitting the start button to continue her game. "Where did this come from?"

Looking up, Dib looked first from his sister to the TV. "Oh, that? Well... It's Xmas, right?"

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so?'? That's why it's here. Because it's Xmas" Dib said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you have any idea how much these cost?"

"About five hundred and seventy-seven dollars, why?" Dib said, realizing too late what he had just said.

Smashing the start button again to pause, Gaz turned to glare at Dib suspiciously. "Where did you get five hundred and seventy-seven dollars?"

"Uh... Well... I... Kinda had some backup cash. For... uh... special occasions. Or medical bills. More the latter. Especially recently..." Dib babbled, scowling off at a random bit of carpet as he thought back to his last hospital visit.

"Where'd it come from?"

"Oh, mostly from various paranormal magazine contents. And the rare TV spot, of course." Dib said, shrugging. He winced immediately as his shoulder let out a cry of pain.

Gaz tilted her head as she looked at him, then turned back to the TV and unpaused her game. The two sat in relative silence after that. The headphones were still plugged in, but the audio was coming through them so loud that even Dib could hear. Gaz ran through the 3D world, sniping vampire piggies out of the air with a five-barrelled shotgun.

As Dib pondered the physics behind such a device, something that hadn't made any sense clicked into place in his brain. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to Gaz, finding her in one of her mid-game trances.

"You did it." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I did." Murmured Gaz, gaze not tearing away from the screen.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

Frowning, Dib leaned back on the couch and continued to watch. At least Gaz seemed to _like _the Game Master 10K. Much more advanced than her usual Game Slave models. As much as he shelled out for the thing, it jolly well _better_ have been!

It didn't stop the questions from swirling in his mind, though. Why had Gaz bothered taking off his glasses? That meant a number of things. First, Gaz had entered his room for the first time in years. Second, it meant that she hadn't tried snapping a mousetrap on his eyelid or something. And third, it meant that she obviously didn't mean to wake him up. It was all distinctly Un-Gaz-like.

But then, he reasoned, what **HE** had done must have seemed very Un-Dib-like to his sister. He had never gotten her a present since he had started bringing in the occasional cash prize. He wasn't even sure why he had done so this year. But then, as Gaz beat the boss of what appeared to be the fourth world in the game, it happened. It was so small that only Dib would have probably noticed. But he was good at reading Gaz's expressions. And he was positive that a smile, no matter how faint and brief it had been, had crossed her face.

Ahh, yes. _That _was the reason.

"Pig gore aside, it's been a nice day. At least we didn't get a blizzard this year." Dib randomly commented, turning his head to look out one of the windows. Snow had fallen in the past weeks, yes,  
but not enough to build up seriously.

Not getting a reply, he eventually left his spot on the couch and went over to properly gaze outside. The snow was falling slowly and in big flakes that night. A slight breeze caused the trees to move from time to time and the moon kept trying to peek out every so often from behind a cloud.

It really had been a nice day. And it was turning into an even nicer, if rather confusing, night. Dib let his eyes unfocus as he tried working over everything he had been through recently. His fights with Zim. His thoughts of Gaz. His falling in a patch of black ice and nearly breaking both his back _and _the Game Master on his walk home. Damn, but that thing had been heavy.

And what on Earth had just happened? He and Gaz had just had a civilized chat, awkward and brief though it had been. And it seemed as if she didn't hate him _entirely_. That was a reassuring thought. His emotions must have reached his face, because a moment later, he heard Gaz say, "If you're going to grin like an idiot, get away from the window. I don't want anyone seeing you staring off into the night with a big, dopey smile on your face."

Dib's eyes focused again and he was about to reply when he realized two things. One, Gaz's voice came from closer than it should have and two, something was around his midsection. Blinking and looking down, he gaped. That 'something' appeared to be Gaz's arms. Which would, in turn, explain why she sounded closer.

Things couldn't have gotten any stranger if they tried. Not that Dib really minded. It was just that Gaz sneaking up and him and putting her arms around him made him nervous. She had always beckoned him over to her when they had been younger, seemingly wanting to be hugged. But he would always end up getting smashed in the face with some large, blunt object. Dib wrinkled his nose at the memory.

"...And don't sneeze all over my hands. I don't want your weird germs all over me." Gaz added, seeing his reflection in the window.

"...You don't have a frying pan behind your back, do you?" Dib asked, trying to peer around the reflection of his annoyingly-large head to see his sister, who practically seemed hidden behind him.

"Not unless I magically sprouted another arm." Gaz replied in a voice that seemed twice as dry as usual.

"Oh... Yeah. Both arms around me. Right." Dib said, feeling like an idiot. "...So... What are you doing, then?"

"You're an idiot." Gaz stated. "Why are you an idiot?"

Not finding that answer to his liking, Dib collected his thoughts. And, after careful consideration, decided to reply as intelligently as he could, given the situation.

"Buh?"

"What does it _look _like I'm doing, you idiot?"

"Well... It _looks _like you're hugging me. But you don't hug people. Especially when that people -- er... person -- is **ME**." Dib said, eyebrows raised as if stating the obvious.

"I'm not hugging you." Gaz said.

Brow furrowed, Dib asked, "Then what _are _you doing?"

"Obviously trying to crush the remaining air out of your feeble lungs." Said Gaz.

"...Oh. Okay." Dib said, frowning further.

"Stop that. You look like someone just stuffed a lemon in your mouth" Gaz grumbled.

"I can't help it, this is weird!" Dib declared.

"Yes. It is." Agreed Gaz.

"Well, then why are you still _doing _it?"

"Because I can."

"That isn't a reason!"

"Of course it is."

Groaning, Dib let out a defeated sigh. Even if they both lived to be horrible, _filthy _old people, he didn't think he'd ever best his sister in an argument.

"So you're trying to crush my frail little lungs?" Dib asked. "Is there any particular reason?"

"Because you're an idiot. Didn't we go over that?"

Blowing a frustrated breath out through his nose, Dib then asked, "Okay, so aside from my being an idiot, is there a reason you're doing this?"

"...Not really." Gaz replied.

"Oh."

"We're going to be stuck indoors if it keeps snowing like that." Said Gaz, peering around Dib's head to look out the window. She didn't sound disappointed in this.

"Looks like it." Dib agreed, eyes aside to look at Gaz's reflection. Same as normal to most people. But Dib could see the faint traces of another smile.

"Shouldn't you get back to your game?" Dib asked a few minutes later.

"I stopped for the night. My hands are hurting." Gaz said.

"Oh. Well..." Dib began, unsure of how to finish his sentence. The whole night just kept getting stranger and stranger. Not only was Gaz outwardly showing emotion towards him - emotion that _wasn't _in the 'hatred' category, no less - but she had stopped playing on a new game system to do so. For an extended period of time.

So lost in thought, Dib wasn't aware until a good while later that Gaz had leaned up against his back at some point. Her grip around him had also loosened. He could feel her head resting against the back of one of his shoulders. And, judging by the sound of her breathing, she had fallen asleep.

Dib tried getting out of the hug-that-wasn't, but once more was stymied by his sister's ridiculous vice-like grip. He couldn't pry her fingers apart and he really didn't want to wake her up. But neither could he simply slip down and out of her grasp, curse his enormous head! Sighing, he managed to move around so that he was actually facing Gaz, who didn't seem to have any problems with sleeping on her feet.

Quickly working out a plan, Dib cautiously wrapped his arms around Gaz's waist, lifting her up slightly and taking a few baby steps toward the stairs before setting her back down again. It was hard to move properly, all things considered. But he was bound and determined to not only get Gaz into her own bed, but to also break free of her death grip.

It took nearly an hour just to get up the stairs, with almost a dozen instances where Dib nearly went tumbling back to the first floor. And if _he _went tumbling, Gaz would be following him whether she wanted to or not. And that, he was certain, would ruin whatever strange, peaceful mood that had taken control of the two of them.

A few minutes later and he had gotten to her bedroom door. Slipping a hand up and over Gaz's arms, he tentatively reached for the door knob. It had been ages since he had been in her room. But if she could go into his room, he could go into hers. At least this once. It was for a good cause, after all.

Indeed, her room remained much like it always had; almost as dark as Dib's was. The only difference is that Gaz's room had varying shades of dark purple and blue scattered throughout the black. Dib waddled over to Gaz's bed with his sister in tow. Now came the hard part. How in the blue blazes was he going to both break Gaz's not-a-hug and get her into bed without waking her up?

In nothing else, Gaz was a heavy sleeper. If over an hour of being lifted up and put back down repeatedly hadn't made her wake up, few things probably would. This being said, a plan, hackneyed though it was, began forming in Dib's mind.

Moving into position, Dib began toppling over backwards, making sure he had a firm grasp around Gaz as he did so. He landed with a soft _'whump'_ on her bed, on his back. Slowly, he scooted backwards until the two of them were completely on the bed.Then, Dib turned so that they were actually facing the right direction. Once he had accomplished this, he carefully rolled to one side. And then, as slowly as he could manage, he began crawling upwards out of his sister's 'lung-crush.'

As absurd as it was, it actually worked. Dib made it off of Gaz's bed with a satisfied and very tired smile. He wouldn't be able to cover her up, since he hadn't thought to pull the blankets back before keeling over onto the bed. So he did the next best thing. Quietly rushing back to his room, Dib returned with one of his trenchcoats -one that HADN'T been mangled by Zim yet -and draped it across Gaz's body.

Admiring both his handiwork and how peaceful Gaz looked for a few minutes, Dib eventually turned and softly made his way from Gaz's bedroom. He was thoroughly worn out. But the night had definitely gone much better than he could ever have planned it to. As he slipped into his own bed, a smile crossed his face. For the second time that week, Dib fell asleep with his glasses on.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Author's Notes: This'll be the only set of notes for this fic, so lemme blather a little. I needed a break from my ongoing Harry Potter fic and, seeing as how I _just _got the first two Zim DVDs, I thought I'd jot up something. Given the painful lack of DAGR fics on FFN, I thought I'd do my part to fill the massive gap. Being that it's a DAGR, more than a bit of OOCness was needed. But I think that goes without saying. _Most _Zim romance fics have to have the characters being OOC. It's just how that world is.

I plan to keep this short. I have four chapters planned out and I've gotten roughly a fourth of chapter 2 finished already. I'm not sure about chapter titles, so that'll probably take me an _hour _to think of.  
I'm awful with chapter titles.

I don't really date the story, so just imagine Dib and Gaz being whatever ages you think they'd be for it. I thought about addding some Zim and GIR moments between scenes or somesuch to show what they're upto over the snowed-in holidays... But decided against it since this is a fairly straightforward fluff fic.

Despite saying it'll be four chapters, it may be whittled to three or extended to five. I'm also bad at keeping to chapter guides, as anyone who's read my other stuff can tell you.

Come on, people! Write more DAGR fiiiiics! Or at least some lesser-used pairings. I've not seen a lot of Tak lately, for instance. I like me some Dib x Zim stuff... and I may one day rewrite my older Zim stuff, which is both horrible and stupid. I really should get rid of all my older junk. But we definitely need more DAGR fics.

Oh, and I'm sorry if the formatting comes out kinda wonky. I'm new to using the document manager thingy to HTMLize my stuffs. But it's the quickest to use. And, though I've tried to spot and change all instances of characters FFN doesn't like anymore, the occasional one might pass by unnoticed. I really shouldn't edit at 5AM, huh? ...One thing I'm noticing that's distinctly weird is that after one of those scene dividing line break things... there ain't no damn blank line before the next part begins... but there is a double gap between that paragraph and whatever's directly after it. I...cannot seem to change this. It's either like that or there's a double gap RIGHT after the divider and then everthing beyond it's fine. Oi oi... ...Eventually, I just got tired of trying to fix it and decided on the oOo's.

So...yeah. Them's my 'notes,' as they are. Mostly just a lot of blathering, as stated at the start. I don't expect much response to it, as I really just wanted to write a DAGR out of the sheer lack of them. The moose demanded it, after all. And who am I to say no to the moose?


	2. Confined

When Dib woke up, it was to a sore face. Groaning at his lack of brains, he removed his glasses and furiously rubbed at his nose. Scowling as he hefted himself out of bed, he set his glasses down on his desk and went to grab some new clothes. As he left his room and headed towards the bathroom for a much-needed shower - he still smelt like Smolten Video employees and filthy street - he thought about the previous night. 

All in all, it hadn't been that bad. In fact, the final trek upstairs aside, it had been rather nice. Bizarre, but nice. Feeling his way along the upstairs wall, he eventually reached the bathroom and slipped inside.

He was promptly smashed in the face by something flat and very hard.

Dropping his fresh clothes and tripping over them, Dib let out a groan. "What hit me...?"

"That bar of soap. And if you don't get out right _now_, I'll send worse your way." Came a very Gaz-like voice from the direction of the bathtub-slash-shower. Dib blinked, still laying face-down on the floor.

"Gaz! What are you doing in here!"

There was a brief silence, followed by, "What most people do when they get up. Cleaning. You may like smelling like soiled monkeys, but I don't."

"I don't smell like a soiled monkey! I smell like a Smolten Video henchgoon!" Dib protested.

"Monkey, goon, same thing." Gaz said. "Now get out."

"You _could _have locked the door." Dib muttered, gathering his clothes and feeling around for the doorknob.

"I could have." Gaz agreed. "But I didn't feel like it."

"What would you have done if I had had my glasses on?" Dib asked, already tired of having his face hurt so much.

"You know that plunger that the toilet ate a month ago?"

"Yeah. What about-- ...Oh. ..._Ohhhh_. I'm just... going... to make a note to never enter without knocking. Ever." Dib stated, turning the knob and quickly rushing from the occupied bathroom.

Once he was back in his room, Dib made his way back to his glasses to put them on. With a sigh, he decided on changing clothes once now, then once again later, after Gaz got out of the tub. It would be extra laundry, but he didn't want to go the whole morning stinking like a festering wound.

After changing, he left his room again. He hadn't heard any doors open, so he assumed Gaz to still be bathing. As he descended the stairs, he briefly entertained the thought of peeking back in. But his rational side won out. No sight in the world was enough to get hit by the Plunger That Wouldn't Die. A shudder passed through Dib's body as he made his way into the kitchen.

"...Maybe I should make a nice breakfast. That'll be a good way of apologizing. I think. Gaz seems to still be in that weird mood. She normally would have thrown the plunger at me, glasses or no. I guess that's good. I should have bought her something nice sooner. Well. Let's see here... What do we have, what do we have? ... I need to do _something_. People would say I was crazy if they saw me standing here and talking to myself."

And with that, Dib set about making the biggest breakfast he ever had.

As he prepared the meal, he idly wondered just _how _abormal a mood Gaz was. It wasn't like Dib hadn't ever seen his sister in the buff. He _had _been the one to bathe her when she was very little, after all. Their dad certainly wasn't going to. He was always too busy. But that felt like it had been almost a lifetime ago. So much had changed over the years...

But he couldn't keep focusing on the past. Not with so much being cooked. The last thing he wanted to do was burn the house down. For one thing, it would melt the game system he had just purchased. For another, Gaz was still in the bathroom. He didn't think his sister would be very forgiving of him if she was forced into public without any clothes.

"Why do the biscuits smell like sausages?" Dib asked to an empty room.

Shaking his head, he continued his preperation of food. When he was almost done, he stuck his head into the living room and shouted, "Hey, Gaz! Breakfast is almost ready! Get out of the bathtub before you shrivel up!"

Pondering what a prune-y Gaz would look like, Dib went about setting the table and serving breakfast, setting the extra food off to one side. He was vaguely aware of doors opening or closing upstairs. He sat down and waited. Thankfully, Gaz could be quick when she wanted to be and was downstairs before Dib had finished buttering the biscuits.

"I don't shrivel." Said Gaz as she entered the kitchen and sat. "And have you looked outside yet?"

"No, why?" Dib asked, blinking.

"Go look." Said Gaz, simply.

Raising an eyebrow, Dib hopped down from his chair and went to peek out the curtains. When he did, he let out a shocked cry. Bath water being drawn wasn't the only thing he had slept through, apparently. Several feet of snow had built up outside. Dib peered off in the direction of the living room and began to ask something when Gaz cut him off.

"I already tried. The doors are sealed tight."

"At least we can get out through the upstairs windows if we need to" Dib said, more to himself than to Gaz. "In case of emergencies or something."

"Like you burning the house down?" Gaz suggested.

"Hey! I did just fine with breakfast!" Objected Dib, sitting down once more. "At least, I think so. How is it?"

"Surprisingly not charred." Said Gaz around a mouthful of bacon.

Dib resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Gaz, but only after stuffing a large bit of biscuit into his mouth. After nearly choking himself on it, he coughed out, "I think I'm going to take a nap after I eat and shower. Body's still protesting a bit... stupid body."

"I'll try and keep the volume on the TV down." Gaz said.

Dib blinked. "Alright..."

This really was bizarre. And it wasn't very easy to get used to. Which wasn't to say that Dib wasn't enjoying it. It was certainly better than getting waffle ironed in the crotch. That had happened about two years ago after Dib had accidentally thrown away some of Gaz's backup batteries. They had been laying around on the counter and he simply assumed that they were old and dead. A lesson learned the hard way, that. Since then, he hadn't come within five feet of a battery. At least one left around anywhere other than in _his _room.

"I wonder how much longer it's gonna snow." Dib idly wondered awhile later as he collected the dishes. "I don't want the roof to come caving in."

"I think it stopped. I haven't bothered checking, though." Gaz said, hopping down from her chair and heading into the living room. After setting the rest of the dishes in the sink, Dib followed his sister in. Passing by her as she took up her usual spot on the couch and grabbed her controller, Dib climbed the stairs.

As he popped back into his room to grab a change of clothes, Dib peered out his window. The snow hadn't stopped, but it was so light that it didn't really matter. He really hoped that it was soft... just in case he had to fling himself out his window or something. As he went back toward the bathroom, Dib mentally pictured himself dragging an unconscious Gaz to the hospital in snow that was well over both of their heads.

"I hate snow." He muttered, locking the bathroom door behind him.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Gaz was enjoying herself as she slaughtered the hideous, blood-sucking piggies of death. It helped that she was now thoroughly full. Whatever might happen to her older idiot of a brother, she had to admit that he wasn't a bad cook.

But her rampage through the game world and her ponderings of dinner were cut short when a high-pitched shriek rang out from the bathroom upstairs. Pausing her game, Gaz tilted her head back and opened an eye partway, just in time to see Dib glaring back at her from the top of the stairs.

He had a towel wrapped around his lower body and was dripping water. His hair was down out of its spike, matted down to his head. He also had an interesting twitch in his left eye.

"You're getting the carpet wet." Gaz observed.

"You didn't leave me any hot water!" Dib cried.

"Oops."

"_Oops_!"

"Oops."

Dib stared at Gaz for a few moments longer before glaring once more and storming off back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Gaz stared at the spot he had been standing and, with a shudder as she unpaused her game, tried to forget seeing the numerous scars that were littered over her brother's body.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Dib's bad mood gave way to a cold chill and a sudden urge to just go back to bed. His annoyance at Gaz forgotten, he had fallen into a deep sleep after switching into a fresh set of clothes. He wasn't sure how long he had been out for, exactly, but it was dark in his room when he opened his eyes again.

At least he was warm again. A small shudder passed through him as he recalled the freezing water spraying him. He _hated _cold water! Cold water always irritated his old 'war wounds' that he had received in the various battles against Zim. None were overly large, except for one that crossed over his left side. That one ran from his back clear around to his stomach and had been from a fight where Zim had pulled out something he simply called "The Cutty Thing." It did its job _very _well.

Groaning, Dib shifted positions, moving from his right side to his back and groaning. His arm hadn't liked getting slept on. His shoulder wasn't too happy with him at the moment, either. He was about to rub at his poor, aching shoulder when he felt, rather than saw, something move.

It was just to his left and, for the briefest of moments, Dib wondered if Zim had decided to brave the snow to attack him in his own room. But, after carefully reaching for his glasses and slipping them on, he saw that it wasn't Zim. Though almost as scary at times, Gaz wasn't nearly as bad as Zim was.

And that left one glaring question in his mind: Why in the name of Bigfoot was Gaz curled up in _his _bed?

Wondering how strange the week was intending to get, Dib rolled onto his left side to better face Gaz, who seemed to be out cold. Dib wasn't entirely sure, since Gaz's eyes were normally squinted to the point of being shut altogether. Made it very hard to ascertain whether you were being watched or not.

"Gaz?" He whispered.

"Nn?" Came her reply.

"Gaz, what are you doing in here?"

"I_was_ sleeping, idiot." Gaz groaned, opening an eye slightly to glare at her older brother. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"..._Your _bedroom is down the hall." Dib stated.

"Thank you, Obvious Boy. I'm well aware of where my bedroom is." Gaz said, letting her eye slip shut again.

"So...why are you in here?"

"It was closer." Came Gaz's reply. "Less talking, more sleeping."

"But I'm not sleepy anymore." Dib said.

"Tough." Gaz said. And, before Dib could argue, she scooted up next to him, pushed him over onto his back again, and flopped against him. Her head fell against his shoulder and her arm draped loosely across his chest.

"I don't have a say in this, do I?" Dib asked.

"Nope."

"Great."

Dib reached up with his right arm - the only one that was free at the moment - and slipped his glasses off again. Before closing his eyes once more, Dib cast a glance aside at the purple head of hair resting on his left shoulder.

Losing himself in thought, Dib almost didn't hear Gaz ask him a question.

"How many do you have?"

"Huh?"

"Scars. How many do you have?"

"... About fifteen, total."

"Don't they hurt?"

"Only when it's cold out."

Gaz tilted her head back slightly. "So they've been bugging you since it started snowing?"

Dib shrugged with his free shoulder. "I've gotten used to it. I've had most of them for awhile. The only one really annoying me is on the right side of my neck down near my shoulder. Not very big, but it's still fairly new. Got it about a two weeks ago. Stupid robot."

"...I don't want to know, do I?"

"Probably not."

"You never act like you're hurt. Not permanently, anyway." Gaz said, the hand draped across Dib's body slipping up to feel at the side of his neck. Dib winced slightly as her finger came in contact with his newest scar, but he said nothing.

"What good would complaining do? That wouldn't heal it. Besides, I found a jar of blue stuff that heals cuts quicker. I probably would have bled to death from the scar on my left side if I hadn't used that junk. Gonna have to ask dad what's in it some time." Dib said, pondering the blue goo thoughtfully for a moment.

"You just randomly opened a jar of blue stuff and rubbed it onto a gaping flesh wound?" Gaz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was kinda desperate at the time. I _had _lost a lot of blood by the time I got home." Dib said, defensively. "Whatever it was helped stop the bleeding, though."

"Where were me and dad at the time?"

"I think you were off avoiding me like the plague. Who knows where dad is. I don't know where he is right _now_." Dib said.

"Ahh."

"For the most part, that scar doesn't bother me. Only when I'm taking a shower." Explained Dib.

"Why in the shower?"

"I dunno. The water hitting the scar feels strange, though. Not strange in the good way, either."

"Feeling strange has a good side?"

"It does."

"...You're an idiot." Declared Gaz.

"I am not." Pouted Dib.

"Then explain what you mean."

Dib paused, then tilted his head to one side so as to get a better view of Gaz's head. "...**THIS** is strange good. Strange bad would be floating brains shooting lasers at people."

"This?" Gaz asked, turning her head enough to make eye contact with her brother. "What do you mean 'this'?"

"This! Whatever happened between us ever since last night. Doesn't it seem...weird to you?" Dib asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's what I mean, then!" Dib then sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "What _did _happen between us last night, anyway?"

"I dunno." Gaz said, laying her head back onto Dib's shoulder.

"I like this better..." Dib said, tentatively. "It's much nicer than worrying about being smashed in the head with some random, blunt object."

"But that was so fun..." Gaz protested through a yawn.

"Yeah, loads of fun." Dib grumpled. "You gave me one of those scars, you know. There's one just above my belly button. It's pretty tiny, but it's there. I got it when I was seven. Do you remember?"

Gaz stiffened slightly, but murmured, "Was that when I replaced the stuffing in your old Bigfoot doll with knives?"

"Yes. Yes it was." Dib said, scowling slightly at the memory. He had just gotten home from a hard day of getting bullied at skool... He had promptly gone up to his room, hopped on his bed, and gave his doll a squeeze. He had then been pierced by one of the knives that had been sticking out at a weird angle.

"Sorry."

Dib blinked. "Ehwha?"

"I said I'm sorry." Gaz said, her voice quieter than normal.

"...Gaz, has someone poisoned you or something?" Dib asked, all of the confusion in his brain starting to reach a boiling point. "I mean, just last week you were tripping me down the stairs and pushing me into the yard with that horrible, grey dog that likes using my head as a chew-toy..."

"Things change." Gaz said, simply. "Now be quiet. I'm tired. Let's go back to sleep."

With that, Gaz's hand moved down from Dib's neck, her fingers lightly curling around her brother's shoulder. Dib let out a quiet sigh, his brow furrowed. He was never going to figure out what was going on. He just had that sort of feeling about the situation. It was something that would probably pass as quickly and suddenly as it had arrived.

Feeling that he might as well enjoy the situation while it lasted, Dib wrapped his left arm around Gaz and pulled her closer, leaning his head over and against hers. Letting his eyes slip shut, Dib allowed himself to be pulled once more into dreams. At least there he didn't have to worry himself about whether or not fate was pulling a fast one on him.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When Gaz next opened her eyes, it was to find that she didn't have her nice, snuggly Dib-pillow next to her anymore.

"Dib?" She mumbled groggily, lifting her head and glancing around the darkened room. But Dib was nowhere to be seen. With an annoyed sigh, Gaz sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. It wasn't quite dark out yet, but it was quickly getting there. Only a faint trickle of light filtered in through Dib's black curtains.

Gaz made her way out of the bedroom and was immediately hit by the unmistakable smell of pizza. That was more than enough to get her moving faster. She quickly descended the stairs and rushed into the kitchen. Dib was over by the cupboards, getting a pair of plates down. When he turned around, he blinked in surprise.

"Finally decided to wake up?" He asked, grinning crookedly as he made his way back over to the table. A large Bloaty's Pizza box had been placed there, its top opened up. "I didn't feel like making dinner, so I figured I'd do the next best thing."

"You... made a Bloaty's delivery boy get out in this weather?" Gaz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I figured I kinda owed it to you. I did kinda screw up the last trip _to _the pizza place, after all." Dib said, setting the plates down and pulling his chair out. "Boy, he seemed pretty mad at me. Can't imagine why."

"...That's incredibly mean of you." Gaz observed, sitting down and pulling out a couple of slices. "When did you get a mean streak?"

"Same time you got a nice streak?" Dib asked. He was then forced to dodge a well-aimed pepperoni. "Okay, okay... Really, I don't know. I was just feeling really lazy after that nap. He made it here in record time, though. I'm still trying to work out _how_."

"Flamethrower?" Gaz suggested.

"He would've used it on me if he had one." Dib said, taking a large bite out of a slice. Around it, he added, "Thought he was gonna punch me out. I've done enough sleeping lately."

"Yeah, you have. But I guess if your laziness equals Bloaty's pizza, it's alright." Gaz said, finishing up her first slice and starting on a second.

"It's large enough to last tonight and tomorrow. Figured I'd play it safe and get the biggest pizza they made. For the price they charged, that stupid delivery boy should have praised me for my choice and given me an extra large." Dib said, shaking his head.

"Mmm. Leftover pizza." Gaz said.

"Always better on the second day. I don't quite get that, either." Dib agreed.

"Mysterious mysteries?" Offered Gaz. This time _she _had to dodge a pepperoni.

The two continued to chat about random things as they polished off half the pizza. Dib closed the box and slid it into the fridge before waddling into the living room to join Gaz on the couch. She had already turned on her new game system and was settling in for what looked to be a long session of bloody vampire piggie slaying.

Dib let his head tilt back, idly rubbing his stomach. He really shouldn't have eaten that last slice. But it was all so greasy and delicious. And for the ludicrous price he had to pay for it, he was damn well going to eat his fill! It had eaten through another small chunk of his saved-up money, but he didn't really care.

Really, Dib couldn't help all the sleeping he had done lately. It was a combination of his last fight's after-effects combined with the dreary weather. He wasn't good at videogames, so he couldn't really join Gaz in the exploding of pig demons, either. The blizzard had knocked his internet provider out, so at best, he could re-sort his various paranormal documents. And that just didn't seem worth it at the moment. He would rather sit in relative silence and watch his sister enjoy her Xmas present.

Every so often, Dib would hear her mutter darkly under her breath as she played. Usually after a random, powerful monster popped out of the woodwork to kill her character. Still, she was pretty good, considering she had never played the game before.

"Hey, Gaz?" Dib murmured awhile later after Gaz finished off one of the game's boss characters.

"Mm?"

"Why don't you open your eyes more often?"

Gaz raised an eyebrow and looked aside at Dib. "What?"

"What? It's a fair question. I'm just curious." Dib said.

"Why?"

"Why?" Dib repeated.

"Very good, Dib. You make a fine echo. Now answer the question." Gaz said, pausing the game and making as if to sort her character's inventory of items.

"Why am I curious? Um..." Dib bit down on his lower lip. This was definitely _not _going how he wanted it to. On one hand, he could try being honest. Given how Gaz had been acting lately, she might just not throw him into a pot of scalding-hot water if he was truthful with her. "I dunno. I just... think your eyes are pretty. That's all."

Gaz's fingers stopped working the buttons on the controller. Looking back over at Dib, Gaz stared at him for a moment. He looked quite nervous and seemed really tense. It was as if he were anticipating the need to escape at the drop of a hat.

"My eyes aren't pretty." Gaz finally replied.

"They are." Dib muttered in quiet tones.

"No, they aren't. They're awful and brownish and hideous." Gaz said.

Feeling this was going to develop into one of those 'am not-are too' fights, Dib sighed and shook his head slowly. "Well, for what it's worth, _I_ think they're pretty. I don't care what anyone else thinks about them."

"Not even me?"

"Not even you."

Gaz unpaused the game and resumed playing, leaving Dib in a silence broken every few seconds by loud, dying squeals.

Dib shut his eyes and once more leaned his head back against the couch. Well, it hadn't gone as horribly as it could have. But it didn't turn out the way he was hoping it would, either. Not that he really had a clear idea of what he was hoping to expect, really. It _was _Gaz he had been trying to compliment, after all. He suspected that Gaz got as many compliments as _he _got invitations to parties.

Lost in thought, Dib jumped when something came in contact with his cheek. Eyes snapping open, Dib's head whirled to the side. But Gaz still seemed engrossed in the game. Raising a hand to his cheek, Dib briefly pondered what he had felt. It had almost felt like a kiss... But having never been kissed before, he wasn't entirely sure. Still... Something _had _come in contact with his cheek.

"Gaz, did you...?" Dib began. He was cut off almost immediately.

"_**Quiet**_! I'm near the lair of the Asploding Wrestleman. He controls the demon piggies!" Gaz hissed out.

Dib's brow creased. He stared at Gaz for awhile longer, ignoring the sounds from the game. From what he could tell, Gaz's face was just a bit rosier than normal, especially in the cheeks. There was some unreadable expression on her face, and her mouth seemed to be fighting with itself on how to appear. One minute, a ghost of a smile would appear, only to be bitten back to a tight-lipped, indifferent look.

Gaz, Dib decided, was very weird. And very fast. And probably very full. Maybe a little sleepy. Possibly with a stomachache. Dib knew he had one setting in. But he didn't _want _to go back to sleep! He had just gotten back up a little over an hour ago. Too much sleep was almost as bad as not _enough _of it.

Groaning as too many thoughts tried to push their way around inside of his morbidly-large head, Dib shut his eyes, let his body go slack, and decided that a very short nap would be better than trying to sort everything out on a painfully full stomach. And the minute he woke back up, it was going to be a mad dash to find the disgustingly-chalky antacids.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Author's Notes: Yay for references to stuff. Daggers is now half done. Chapter 3 finds our couple still stuck indoors. But take heart, those of you who might be sick of them sleeping - chapter 4 will involve an awful, hideous snowball fight. Oh, and apologies in advance for the next chapter. I told myself I wasn't going to include Zim. But I figured...as long as it was brief and in flashback, it couldn't hurt. Could it?

FFN needs more DAGR fics. I need more DAGR fluff!


	3. Silent Night

Searing pain. 

It was all he could feel.

Dropping to one knee, Dib glared across the road at his green-skinned nemesis, trying not to show more signs of pain than were neccessary. Zim's horrible, high-pitched laughter filled the eerily calm night sky. Spider legs sprouting from his back, Zim slowly approached his downed victim.

It was a wild chance, but it was the only one Dib had. Reaching into an inner pocket on his trenchcoat, he pulled out a thin, long bottle filled with a swirling, pink liquid. As Zim drew near, Dib reared back, slinging the bottle at the Irkin invader's face. At the same time, Zim was slinging one of his spider legs out in a slashing motion.

The bottle hit and broke on Zim's face at the same time that Dib was sliced open by the robotic limb. Both cried out in pain, scrambling away from one another. Dib was the first to recover, holding a hand to his right arm and smirking through clenched teeth at Zim, whose face seemed to be burning.

"Feeling a little sore, _**ZIM**_!" Dib barked, pained laughter now filling the calm air. "It's something dad cooked up! So far, it's melted everything I've tested it on!"

"I'm not _EVERYTHING_!" Zim roared, charging at Dib, who wasn't expecting Zim to rush him. Only one of the Irken's eyes were open, the other sizzling painfully as the pink liquid slid down his face. From out of his back, Zim produced another gadget. Not another leg, however. Dib wasn't quite sure _what _he was looking at. It was almost like a giant, pink scythe of sorts, connected to a deep purple handle that seemed to be glowing.

"I won't let you have the last laugh in _this _fight, _**DIB**_!" Spat Zim, pulling his arm back and shooting it forward. And, as if casting a line to fish, the bladed end of the whatever-it-was shot out from the base.

Dib, who had been running to escape Zim's enraged charge, had to dive to one side as the blade nearly took a chunk out of his back. Dib quickly rolled onto his back and was about to leap back to his feet when he saw something that made his blood run cold. The bladed weapon was hovering not ten feet above him, swaying back and forth like a pendulum.

Zim's hissing voice broke through the silence. "How do you like my new invention, you pitiful flesh-basket? I call it the _CUTTY_...Thing!"

"Cutty Thing?" Dib asked, momentarily forgetting his peril. "Yeah, that's _real _original, Zim!"

"_**SILENCE**_!" Zim shrieked. Jerking his arm quickly a few times, the blade proceeded to back up slightly before flying down and piercing Dib's left side.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Dib's scream carried through the house, waking up the only other person asleep in it. Though she was familiar with the various screams of Dib, Gaz hadn't heard one quite like that in a long, long time.

When she opened the door to her brother's room it was to find Dib sitting up in bed, looking as if he was having trouble breathing. One hand was under his shirt, clamped around his left side. The other was tightly squeezing a spot on his right arm. His eyes were wide open and he was staring down at his bedsheets, which were completely tangled and half off the bed.

"Dib?"

Dib's eyes darted up to meet Gaz's. The girl had to forced a shudder away. She hadn't quite remembered a time where Dib had seemed this. Whatever this was. It wasn't pleasant.

Cautiously approaching the bed, Gaz asked, "Nightmare?"

"Yeah..." Dib breathed out. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up."

"You probably woke up the whole neighborhood." Gaz commented, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "So what was it about?"

"That stupid fight again." Dib scowled, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I can't stop dreaming about it. And it always ends in the same place. I'm tired of waking up _feeling _the pain of that attack all over again..."

Gaz stared at her brother for a few seconds before prodding him in the side he had received the Cutty Thing scar on.

"Oww! Quit it."

Lifting her head slightly, Gaz prodded the spot again.

"Oww! _Quit _it."

Gaz smiled faintly, curled up her fingers, and slugged Dib in the side.

"OWW! QUIT IT!" Dib howled, scooting back on his bed, clutching his side, and glaring at his sister.

"See? You're fine. Your problem is you think too much. Stop thinking." Gaz said.

"...I do not think too much. I can't help what I dream about!" Dib retorted.

"Of course you do. Something has to be going on inside of that enormous head of yours. Have you tried asking Dad to shrink it?" Gaz asked.

"My head isn't big!" Dib scowled, scooting back further.

"Of course it is." Gaz said, swinging her legs up onto the bed and giving slow persuit to Dib. "It's gigantic. How you don't topple over is something I don't think I'll ever understand."

"You're acting really _weird _tonight, you know that?" Dib said, backing up against his headboard. "...Weirder than usual, I mean."

"I'm not weird. I'm logical. Now lay down and go back to sleep." Gaz said, peering into Dib's eyes.

"I'll just have the nightmare again. I always do." Dib said, shrugging. "If I have it once in a night, it's not going to go away."

Gaz cracked her eyes open slightly. She then reached out, grabbed Dib by the legs, and yanked him down so that he was laying face-up. She then flopped down beside him and repeated, "Go back to sleep."

Dib blinked. It had been a while since Gaz had physically moved him. He had almost forgotten how abnormally powerful she could be when she wanted to. He began to protest, but Gaz's hand clamped over his mouth before he could utter a single word.

"It's the middle of the night. You woke me up. I'm sleepy. You're sleepy. So let's sleep. We can talk over pizza when we get up." Gaz said. With that, she settled herself in against her brother and closed her eyes.

"...Why do I never get to decide anything?" Dib asked to the silence that had fallen over his room.

"Too much time thinking, not enough talking. Sleep now." Gaz mumbled from somewhere around the vicinity of his right shoulder.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Gaz woke up, daylight had rolled in. She wasn't sure what time it was and she didn't have the energy to check. Thankfully, Dib's room was even darker than her own in the daytime, keeping only a faint trace of the sun's light inside of it. She briefly wondered where her bobblehead of a brother had wandered off to at such an early hour... then wondered if it was even early at all. Scowling, she curled up and tugged the blankets over her head.

Gaz stayed curled up in the darkness and warmth of Dib's bed until something forced her into opening her eyes. Pepperonis. Hot, greasy, overcooked pepperonis! And cheese! Enough cheese to plug up a water buffalo! And it was... getting closer?

Dib burst into the room like a derelick, pizza-toting version of the Kool-aid Man, complete with "_Oh yeah_!" exclamation upon entering without dropping any of the things he was carrying.

"Gaz! Time to get up! Pizza's done cooking. Brought you some cola, too. Figured you'd be as thirsty as I was when I got up." Dib said, skidding to a halt next to his bed and setting two glasses of pop down on his nightstand. He turned to face the lump under his blankets, tilting his head.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Gaz emerged from underneath. Her hair was an utter mess after trying to settle in under the blankets and her nightshirt was half off one of her shoulders. Her eyes were open wide and staring longingly in the direction of the reheated pizza.

Dib rolled his eyes and held a plate out. "Oh, hurry and take it before you 'cute' me to death." He said, sitting on the edge of his bed and digging into a slice of his own.

"Shut up." Muttered Gaz around a mouthful of food. She quickly emerged fully from under the blankets and leaned back against the headboard. "How long've you been up? And what time is it?"

"About an hour, and ten in the morning." Answered Dib, hissing as the first pepperoni slid off on a bite it had no business being a part off, burning his tongue. "Gahh! **Haht**! _**HAHT**_!"

Gaz snorted.

Quickly grabbing his pop and taking a long drink, Dib let out a sigh of relief before glaring at his sister. "Yeah, like that hasn't happened to _you _before..."

"I'm more careful." Gaz stated.

"Are not. I remember when you were four and had your first pizza. You did the _exact _same thing." Dib said.

"How do you remember stupid things like that?" Gaz asked.

"It isn't stupid." Dib replied automatically.

"Of course it is. You're weird. Stop being weird, Dib." Gaz said, crunching into the remaining crust of her first slice.

"I'm not weird. I just catalogue memories well." Dib replied with a firm nod. "I'm very thorough. And besides, any memory involving you is worth remembering."

Gaz blinked, looking up through her eyelashes at Dib in the middle of trying to get a string of cheese to break free from the rest of the pizza slice.

"...Like this one." Dib murmured. He then sighed and stared off across the room. "Gaz, what's going on with us?"

"Nothing is."

Another sigh. "Of course there is... I doubt my suddenly getting you a nice Xmas present was enough to completely change how you act around me... so... what is it?"

"Nothing." Gaz said, polishing her second slice of pizza off quickly and scooting towards her brother. "Nothing's special, nothing's going on, and nothing's strange. Can't I enjoy the holidays for once?"

"Gaz..." Dib began. "What...?"

Leaning up against her brother's side, Gaz resumed munching on her breakfast. "And besides... don't you like this?"

Dib couldn't argue against that. "But we're siblings, Gaz... what would other people think if they saw us acting like this?"

"There won't be other people. No one will know." Gaz stated.

"How can you be so sure?" Dib asked.

"Because I trust you to keep it a secret, no one would dare ask ME, and whatever we do together, we do behind closed doors." Said Gaz. "And so what if people _did _find out? It's not as if the two of us are popular. Who cares what the idiots at skool think? If you haven't noticed, Dib, the world is insane. T_his_... is nothing in comparison to some of the stuff that's going on out there."

Dib blinked. "...Yeah, well. Okay, so... where does that leave us? I mean... do you... y'know..." He faltered for a moment. "I mean... why on earth would you want to be around _me _all the time?"

Gaz turned to look up and into Dib's eyes. "Who else would I be with? Zim?"

A horrible parade of images made its way through the Main Street of Dib's mind, causing him to violently shudder.

"And who else would _you _be with? ...Zim?"

Dib twitched, suddenly setting his plate down and holding his stomach. "Gaz, please, I'm _eating _here..."

"So...if it's just you and me... it makes sense. Or whatever passes for sense in this stupid world." Gaz said, finishing her final slice. "You gonna eat those?"

Dib looked over at the slice and a half still on his plate. "...You can have them" He said, shaking his head. "Seriously, Gaz, are you sure you're feeling alright? Because if you aren't, I can..."

Dib was shushed by a finger on his lips.

"Don't you remember what I said last night?" Gaz said. "You think too much. Cut it out, you idiot."

Dib sighed, handing his pizza over to his sister and leaning back on his arms. Licking his lips, he tried to say something... paused... then shook his head. It took another couple of minutes before he gained enough courage to try again. "You know... you looked _really _cute when you finally crawled out from under the covers."

"I'm not cute." Gaz said around a mouthful of pizza. "I've never been cute."

"You used to wear winged teddybear footie-pajamas." Deadpanned Dib.

"Shut up."

Smirking, Dib leaned forward. "Make me."

"..._What_?"

"I said make me!" Dib said, feeling more courageous. Gaz still had pizza left. Gaz did not leave pizza to do anything. Hence, he was safe. Or at least, he should have been. He hadn't expected his little sister to reach for her cola, take a sip, and pour the rest of it onto Dib's lap.

"_GAH! COLD_!" Squealed Dib, hopping up and dancing around for awhile, tugging the soaked area of his jeans away from his body. Glaring daggers up at Gaz, he growled, "I _will _get you for that."

"Not if you want to live long enough to see the grass again." Calmly stated Gaz.

With a swiftness he had developed from years of fighting Zim, Dib leapt over to his nightstand, procurred the largest icecube still surviving, and in one fluid motion dropped it down the front of his dear sister's nightshirt.

The reaction was both hilarious and frightening. For a moment, nothing at all happened. Then, slowly, Gaz set the remaining half a slice of pizza down, stood up, tugged out the bottom of her nightshirt...and charged at Dib.

Dib squawked, getting tackled backwards to the floor. Pinning him down, Gaz lowered her face so it was mere inches from Dib's, seething. "That... was... **COLD**."

"Yeah, it _was_!" Dib agreed, bottom lip poked out... which must have looked quite ridiculous, given his glare.

"You realize you must suffer now." Gaz stated.

"I won't suffer. I know your weakness." Said Dib, cryptically.

"I have no weaknesses." Stated Gaz.

"I think you do." Dib said, a smirk slowly forming.

"Like _what_?"

"Me." Whispered Dib, raising his head far enough for his lips to make contact.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"I hate my life."

It was true. Too true for him to want to think about. He was ridiculed by everyone. The most he could make of his life was chasing a completely incompetant alien around. Even if he became famous, what would he do with the rest of the time given to him? Would he even live long enough to have a future? If something happened to him...

Dib sighed, which was immediately followed by a sharp intake of breath as he placed the icepack onto his left eye again. The day hadn't started well. Dib wasn't sure why he had been expecting it to pick up at any point. His bright move of exploiting his 'sweet' little sister's 'weak point' turned out to be the wrong thing to do for some reason.

At least he didn't have to worry about Gaz being alone if anything _did _happen to him. Gaz had a mean, **mean **left jab. It definitely hadn't been the reaction Dib was hoping for. Whatever was going on in his sister's mind, it obviously wasn't fully planned out. She seemed to want to be closer to him, in every way possible, apparently... But when he had made the first real move, she had gone wide-eyed, smashed him in the eye, and made a quick escape back to her own room.

That had been almost five hours ago. And the swelling _still _hadn't gone down.

Laying on his back in bed with the icepack in place, Dib could only stare up at the ceiling and wonder what had gone so horribly wrong. Was his sister just toying with him? Had she simply been acting nicer out of thanks for the game system? Why had she sat and talked with him about meaningless things? Why had she insisted on falling asleep next to him? Why had she fled?

Closing his good eye, Dib tried to find the answers to his questions. But none came. Either everything was one big game, or Dib had simply advanced too far and scared Gaz off. Neither was particularly appealing. And neither helped to stop the pain he was feeling. Pain that had absolutely nothing to do with his black eye. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, as he had never experienced it before. But it hurt. It hurt more than all of the scars on his body combined. And, though he didn't know the cause of it all, Dib was certain that the blue stuff he had used to heal his previous wounds wouldn't solve the problem this time.

Feeling frustrated, and more than a little depressed, Dib sat up and proceeded to slip out of bed. Walking over to his window, Dib peered out. The skies were still grey and overcast, as if ready to unleash another hellish blizzard at any moment. The snow was still piled ridiculously high on the ground, but the city had finally mobilized their grunts and cleared the streets.

Sighing again, Dib moved his curtains aside and opened the window up, kneeling in front of it to let the cold winter breeze brush against his sore eye. He didn't notice movement nearby; didn't notice something drawing closer. It wasn't until it was just outside his window did something in him warn him that all wasn't right.

"Hello, **_DIB_**."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Gaz had spent the last few hours curled up in her bed, lost in thought. Her left hand was aching. She hadn't figured on Dib's giant head to be so blasted _hard_. She hadn't figured on punching him, either. But she had. And then she ran. She could only imagine what was going through her brother's head at the moment.

She wasn't sure why she had punched him, really. It wasn't as if the kiss had been sudden or anything. Maybe it was just how it had unravelled. The last place Gaz had intended to get her first kiss by Dib, in his room, while straddling his body. But it had happened. And there was no way to take it back.

Gaz wasn't even sure she wanted to.

She knew what was going on between them. Ever since she had walked downstairs that day to find a large present with her name on it. She had spent the longest time just trying to imagine _why _Dib had bothered buying her anything, much less something so expensive. He knew he wasn't going to get anything, as usual, so why get _her _something? Why had he been so _nice _to her? When had he stopped spending every waking hour talking about Bigfoot and UFOs and Zim? When had he developed all of those hideous scars?

Tugging her blanket up over her cold legs, Gaz let her eyes slip shut. But that didn't help - she kept seeing the scene replay itself over and over again in her mind. Eyes quickly opening again, and with a faint blush on her face, Gaz rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. A few minutes passed before she had to tug her blanket up further. Why the hell was it so _cold _in the house? The thermostat was up past 80. It should have been an oven, if anything.

Figuring she couldn't delay it any longer if she didn't want to freeze her lower body off, Gaz slipped out of bed and left her room. But the temperature was still set at around 84. Frowning, she tapped it a few times to make sure it wasn't giving her a faulty reading. But at 84 it stayed. Taking a deep breath, Gaz looked up the hallway, towards Dib's room. Maybe he would know what was going on.

"Dib?" Gaz murmured, putting a hand up to his door. "Hey. Dib?"

Getting no response, Gaz couldn't help but repress a sigh. He probably didn't want to speak to her. Not after getting slugged in the face for no real reason. She was just going to have to slip something on over her legs, that was all. And maybe grab her jacket, as well. She was just turning to leave when a cold blast of air blew across her feet.

"...Dib, did you open your window and fall asleep again?" Gaz called out. It had happened before. ...But even doing that, it shouldn't have been so cold in the house.

Still getting no response, and getting highly annoyed at being unable to work out the cause of the sudden coldness, Gaz grabbed the doorknob and shoved the door to her brother's room open.

It took her a moment to fully take in what she was seeing. Nearly all of the outer wall to Dib's room had been vaporized somehow. Everything within the room looked as if it had been in some kind of tornado. Items were strewn about here and there, clothes littered every inch of the place. Snow had been blown in and had built up in small piles here and there.

And on the wall above his headboard, in a small crater, was Dib. His clothes were shredded, blood was pouring out of several large cuts on his face and arms, and he seemed to be stuck where he was smashed. His head hung forward, but the rest of him still seemed firmly planted into the crater.

Gaz rushed over, hopping onto Dib's bed to tug him away from the wall. How had all of this happened without her knowing! How did a large chunk of the house get destroyed without making any sound!

"Dib!" Gaz whispered upon getting Dib laying flat on his bed a few minutes later. "Dib, wake up!"

Getting no response, Gaz groaned. Dib was _heavy_. And she was quite sure that she couldn't lug him around very easily. Thinking back to something he had told her previously, Gaz slipped off of Dib's bed and raced out of the room and downstairs. Throwing open the door that led into their father's lab, Gaz began looking around for it.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Dib opened his eyes next, another pair were staring down at him. After a few minutes of this, Dib finally let out a quiet groan. "Your room?" He asked.

"Yeah. What happened to yours?"

"Zim." Dib grumbled.

"How come I didn't hear anything?"

"Dunno. He was using some weird gun-looking thing that shot neon pink laser things at me. Didn't make any noise... After that didn't work, he just smashed my head into the wall, kicked me in the crotch, then flung me aside and left." Dib said. "...Got anything to drink? My throat hurts."

"There's some soda left in that can." Gaz said, motioning towards her nightstand.

"Thanks..." Dib sat up enough to get a decent drink, then frowned. "...Hey, how come I'm not feeling as bad as I should be?"

"Blue stuff." Gaz said.

"What, you found it again? ...Thought dad had run out." Dib said, blinking.

"Apparently not. Now lay back down. You might have a concussion. No getting up and chasing after him." Gaz ordered.

"Wasn't planning on it." Dib said, flopping back down.

"Good." Said Gaz, crawling over Dib and laying down next to him. "Feeling tired or anything?"

"Not really. I do have a headache, though."

"Yeah, I couldn't find a way to get the blue stuff into your big head. Sorry."

"My head is _NOT_ big!" Dib scowled.

"Yes it is." Said Gaz, yawning.

Dib looked over at her, then searched the room for a clock. "...Wow, I've been out of it for six hours?"

"Something like that." Murmured Gaz, curling up on her side somewhat.

"Tired?"

"Of course I'm tired. Do you have any idea how long it took to find and apply the blue stuff and drag you in here? You're heavy. You're a very heavy thing. Go to the gym, Dib." Gaz muttered.

"...Yeah, you have to be tired. You're more incoherent than usual." Dib said.

"...And what's _that _supposed to mean? I'm always coherent. You're the idiot always babbling about skunk apes and leprechauns." Gaz said, glaring up at her brother.

"It was trying to steal my underwear!" Cried Dib. "It's the _TRUTH_!"

"No one would want _your _underwear." Gaz stated, shifting her position enough to use Dib's shoulder as a pillow. "How's your body feeling, anyway?"

"Lower back's kinda sore. Other than that, I feel okay." Said Dib. "...You know, if you want to take a nap or something, you can. I'm not going to fall asleep."

"I know."

"Oh. ...Gaz, look, about earlier, I--"

Gaz clamped a hand over his mouth before he could get any further. Blinking, he looked down at her again. She had her head down, so he couldn't see her expression.

"I shouldn't have punched you." She said after a few minutes of silence.

"...I shouldn't have kissed you." Dib replied, sighing.

"It's fine. I just wasn't expecting it." Gaz said.

"Aren't unexpected kisses the best kind, though?" Dib asked.

"Why are you asking me? It's not like _I've _kissed anyone before." Gaz said.

"Neither have I. Okay, um... new rule. No unexpected kisses?"

"I guess. Now stop talking. You need to heal."

"What, is talking going to stop the healing process?"

"It will if I wind up knocking you out to shut you up again." Gaz said, tilting her head enough for Dib to see that she was giving him the evil eye.

"...Right! No talking, then!" Squeaked Dib.

"Good." Said Gaz, snuggling in against her brother and smiling faintly. She was surprised when, a few minutes later, Dib's arms wrapped around her, offering up a slight squeeze. This, of course, did little to push Gaz's sleepiness away. It was still early, but Dib _had _forced her to exert more energy than usual. She wasn't the type of person to run a marathon, after all. And she considered doing a mad dash for something she didn't even know the appearance of, applying it, and lugging Dib into her room just as bad.

"Get some sleep." Dib whispered. "I'm good at staying awake for long periods of time. I won't fall asleep, too."

"Nn." Was all Gaz could reply in her half-asleep state. Damn it all, but she was comfortable. She had no business being so comfortable. Especially when she really needed to stay awake to make sure her idiot of a brother did, too. Concussions and sleep didn't tend to mix well. ...But, she figured, it was Dib. If he hadn't received a concussion from all the insane crap he had done up to date, Gaz didn't think Zim catching him off-guard - _again_ - could give him one.

All higher forms of thought abandoning her, the girl draped an arm over her brother. Partly to ensure that he wasn't going to sneak off and try seeking revenge as soon as she drifted off, partly because it was comfier laying that way. Moving her head around to try and find a nice, soft spot on what she sleepily murmured to be a 'boney-ass shoulder,' Gaz eventually drifted off. It had been a very long and very _odd _day.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

**Author's Notes**: _Huttah_! Third chapter finished, after all this time! I got the third Zim DVD awhile ago. Gaz, Taster of Pork has hopped up to around the top of my favorite episodes list. For obvious reasons. It's a cute Dib and Gaz episode, it has them HOLDING HANDS, and it showed Gaz's adorable winged teddybear footie-pajamas. Who knew she liked such cutesy stuff?

One chapter left, folks. You know, the whole first kiss and Zim's subsequent offscreen appearance and attack weren't planned. But something needed to spice the chapter up, as it was fairly standard and rather bland up to that point.

Any flames and the like will be shrugged off and giggled at. If you've taken the time to read three - or even ONE - chapter(s) of this and left a scathing, flaming review... Well, that's your problem. I made you waste time that you'll never get back! **_NEVEEEEER_**! ...As for the people who LIKE the fic, your reviews are always appreciated. I still wanna see more DAGR fics around. The few I've been able to dredge up were all random smutfics. I demand more fluff. _FLUFF_!

Because if you can write fluff into the Zim universe, you can write pretty much anything. Gymkata!


	4. Closer to Perfect

When Gaz awoke the following morning, her snuggly Dib-pillow was once again missing. Gaz didn't like her snuggly Dib-pillow to be missing! And what's more, the big-headed idiot was still injured. Where the hell did he think he was going off to on his own so soon after getting beaten silly by Zim? 

...Gaz groaned, throwing back the blanket and forcing herself to wake up quickly. "So help you, if you've gone off to get revenge..." She muttered, rushing from her room. She first checked Dib's room, which was an even bigger mess than it had been the previous night. Then she checked the bathroom - no dice there, either. There wasn't anything by way of food being cooked; she would have noticed by now.

Feeling more than a little panic rise in her chest, Gaz headed downstairs and checked their father's lab. But her brother wasn't there, either. He hadn't fallen asleep on the couch after getting a middle-of-the-night can of cola, he hadn't accidentally locked himself in the garage like he had done in the past...

Gaz ran by the back door a few times before stopping to look out it. The snow had melted quite a bit. The level in the back yard had dropped a lot. Enough for her stupid brother to make a number of Snow Piggies attacking awful Snow Zims.

Throwing the door open, briefly shivering as the cold wind hit her half-dressed form, Gaz called out, "Dib, you idiot, what are you _**doing **_****out there?"

Dib blinked, looking up from his his latest snow sculpture - a vampire piggy biting one of Zim's eyes off - and smiled. "Oh...morning, Gaz! Sleep well?"

Gaz disappeared from the doorway long enough to slip her boots and a jacket on, then trudged outside to glare at Dib at close range. "It doesn't matter how I slept. You got your ass handed to you yesterday and should still be laying down! I nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't find you."

Before Dib could reply, Gaz grabbed him by the ear and proceeded to tug the boy back inside, despite his protests. Gaz quickly shed her jacket and boots once back in, turning to look back at Dib, her arms crossing.

"Explain yourself."

Dib blinked, then made a face. "I felt fine. I tried staying awake, but I fell asleep, anyway. When I woke up, I felt much better. I think the blue stuff got into my system and helped fix whatever else was wrong with me."

"Convenient."

"Yeah, I thought so. I was gonna make breakfast, but I saw the snow had gone down. I dunno about you, but I needed to get outside for awhile."

"You could have just gone back to your room, you know. There's plenty of snow built up in _there_."

"You know what I mean."

"Do I?"

"You should."

"Hmph."

"Oh, come on!" Dib cried. "What are you angry about?"

"You constantly worrying me to death, that's what!" Gaz said, glaring.

Whatever Dib was about to say, his brain forced him to stop and think over what his sister had just said. He then smirked and leaned in closer. "Constantly? When did this start?"

Gaz blinked, realizing too late how she had phrased her reply. Blushing so faintly that even Dib barely noticed, she turned away from him and headed for the stairs. "Nevermind. I'm going to go get dressed."

"You have some 'splainin' to doooo!" Cried Dib as Gaz disappeared upstairs. Once she was out of sight, Dib went about shedding his heavy coat, hat, and gloves. He set his snow-covered boots near the door - any further in and Gaz would have his head for the resulting water when the snow melted. He then went over to the couch and flopped down on it.

The truth was, he wasn't feeling quite a hundred percent yet. Something in him still felt off, though he couldn't quite place what it was. He felt fine physically and mentally. He was annoyed that his room was an utter _mess _that probably wouldn't be fixed until the rest of the snow melted, but there was nothing to be done for it. A pizza boy might be forced to deal with the elements, but Dib was pretty sure the carpenters in the area definitely wouldn't.

When Gaz finally came back down, Dib raised an eyebrow. "You said you were going to get dressed."

"I did." Stated Gaz. She pointed. "See?"

"Pajama pants, a nightshirt, and thick socks counts as dressed?"

"It's not like I'm going anywhere. And dragging your miserable butt inside just about froze me." Gaz said, sitting down next to her brother and crossing her legs.

"Eh, good enough. I'm going to get you out there in the snow at some point, though." Said Dib, smiling cryptically.

"Oh no you won't." Said Gaz, opening an eye slightly.

"I'll find a way." Dib said, crossing his arms.

"Not unless you want another concussion."

"I didn't have one to begin with! ...At least, I don't think I did." Dib said.

Sighing, Gaz shook her head. "Lift up your shirt."

"Say what now?"

Glaring, Gaz reached out and tugged her brother's shirt up, peering. "...Guess it really _does _heal everything." She stated after awhile. "...You've got two new scars just above your stomach. They're pretty small, though."

"I've gotta ask dad what the hell that stuff is some day." Dib idly said.

"And why he isn't marketing it. Hospitals would pay a ton." Gaz added.

"That too. I need my own personal supply, though, just in case Zim decides to pay me any more surprise visits." Dib growled.

"Zim..." Gaz repeated.

Dib looked aside at his sister. She looked strangely in thought. And a Gaz at thought was a rare thing. She normally didn't _need _to go deep in thought. So when she did, it was enough to cause Dib some concern.

"What's on your mind?" He asked.

"Why don't you just give up on catching Zim?" Gaz asked.

"What?"

"Dib. He's a bigger idiot than you are. Name one time he's accomplished something. One time."

"He almost got me _and _my class sent to a room with a moose!" Dib declared. "If it weren't for their _searing _hatred of me, he would have won, too. _**And **_he turned us both into bologna!"

Gaz snorted.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just remembering the way you looked." Gaz said.

Dib hmmed. He then grinned. "Gaz."

"What?"

"Taste me, I'm delicious! Oww! Okay, I deserved that." Said Dib, rubbing the spot on his arm that Gaz had just slugged. He was still having a tough time biting back a grin.

"Yes. Yes you did. And in case you've forgotton..." Gaz began, placing a finger up to Dib's lips for a moment. "I have tasted you. Remember?"

Dib blinked, then blushed, then hopped back slightly. "That wasn't what I meant." He mumbled feebly.

Smirking, Gaz replied, "I'm well aware of that."

"You're evil. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Yes."

Dib glared. "Anyway, Zim's gotta be up to something bigger than what he lets on! What if he tries summoning his leaders again! I don't want some massive ship firing death rays down on us. Not much I could do to p-- ...um... not much I could do to save people from something like that..." He said, quickly shifting gears mid-sentence.

"I'd rather die in a giant, burn-y death ray than try to deal with a world where Zim's people ruled." Gaz said. "...But they can't all be as stupid as he is."

"Tak almost pulled it off." Dib said, leaning his head back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

"Yes, Tak." Gaz said, watching her brother carefully. "...You really cared about her, didn't you?"

"Eh? Oh, uh... I guess I may have... before I learned she was an Irken invader hellbent on killing Zim and filling the planet with snacks." Dib said, now glaring at the ceiling. "...She kinda reminded me of you, y'know."

"Excuse me?"

Dib felt his face warm up. "Don't make me say it, it's embarassing enough to think about. Besides, if I tried, it would just come out all horrible and mushy and hideous."

"Your point?"

"Gaaaaz!" Dib half-whined, half-groaned. "Come on!"

Gaz smiled briefly, then let herself get overcome by a big yawn. "Ugh... it's your fault I didn't get to sleep in."

"It's noon." Dib pointed out.

"Yes, and there's also no reason at all to be up before it." Gaz stated, shifting herself so that she was laying down. Resting her head on Dib's legs, her eyes slipped shut. "Don't run off again."

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" Dib asked, staring down at his lap.

"No." Murmured Gaz.

"Great." Said Dib, watching - as he could do little more from his position - as Gaz quickly drifted back into dreamland. "...Sleep well."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"The snow melted about a week later. The wall of my room was fixed up. And life sort of fell back into a more familiar pattern. Gaz and I remained close, however, and continued our habit of falling asleep next to one another. I think both of us felt safer that way, if that makes sense.

"Nearly two months after the 'incident' occured, something happened. To this day, I'm not sure why things shifted like they did. All she said was that she was tired of all the constant fighting between Zim and myself and that, if I could turn him in, then she and I could enjoy the rest of our lives together. Maybe it was _how _she said it... maybe it was that she honestly wanted to _be _with me for that long. Whatever it was, it set events in motion.

"The very next day, before Gaz woke up, I set out. It didn't take long to reach's Zim's base of operations, and even less time to get inside. Whether Fate was smiling on me, whether I just lucked out, or whether I actually got the victory on my own, it all meant the same thing: I had captured Zim. Strangely enough, a gun shooting out giant bubble gum bubbles was the thing to do the trick. It was just one of a handful of dad's gadgets I had picked up during my pre-fight ritual. It was also the first thing I tried against him.

"I was in contact with the FBI within minutes. They arrived bizarrely fast... I'm still a bit unnerved by that. After handing over the Bubble Gun and explaining how it worked and what had happened, they carted him off, just like that. There was no big fanfare, no parades in my honor. He was just... gone.

"Nearly a week later, GIR showed up on our front step, sobbing and covered in stickers from the places he had travelled to, like some sort of living suitcase. I hate to say it, but I actually felt sorry for the little guy. He had lost his master, for better or for worse, and didn't have anywhere to go. I took him in and reprogrammed him. Whoever did it the first time around did a horrible job on it. All I found was a bunch of junk in his head. Still not one hundred percent sure how he was even running. He's basically a glorified waiter now, though he does seem relatively happy about being of use to _somebody_. I buy him waffles. He likes waffles.

"And that was it, really. GIR was working for us, Zim was off being dissected somewhere, and... well, that was about all that had changed. The FBI had made me promise not to tell anyone of what I had done. And really, who would believe me? Part of me misses the daily routine I had fallen into over time. But part of me was glad that it was finally over. Oh, I still had my hobby... Gaz would never be able to get me to part with that,just like she would never part with her videogame obsession."

"Are you ever coming to bed?"

Dib paused in his writing, looking from the glow of the computer's monitor to his bed, where Gaz's head could barely be seen over a mound of blankets. Smiling crookedly, he turned back to his journal entry, saving the document. "Yeah, gimme a minute." He said.

Shutting the computer down and then off, he stood and walked over to his bed, sitting on the edge. "Sorry. Just getting some stuff out of my head."

"Like what?" Gaz murmured, shifting back to make room for her brother.

Dib slid into bed properly and, after Gaz had curled up against him, he replied, "Just everything that's happened lately. Sometimes it feels like my mind's too crowded, you know? It's been busy lately."

"Ah..." Came Gaz's reply. "What are we doing tomorrow night?"

"Dunno. Haven't thought ahead that far." Dib said. "Hey, what were you swearing up a storm about earlier, anyway?"

"What, before I came up?"

"Yeah."

Gaz shifted her weight slightly. "Vampire Piggy Hunter Z level 8. Can't figure out how to get past the Hall of Kill-y Stuff."

"You don't. You take the hidden passage behind the portrait of Count Blarloch." Dib said.

Gaz jerked her head back to stare, wide-eyed, at her brother. Dib blinked back at her and, after realizing she was too stunned to say anything, asked, "What?"

"How the hell do you know that?" Gaz demanded.

"What? You think you're the only person who plays games in this house?" Dib asked, starting to grin. "I need something to do in the time I usually spent chasing Zim.Had trouble there myself until I checked online and found out the real way through the level."

"...I don't think I like that you figure out something that I didn't." Gaz said.

"Aww, is little Gazzy jealous?" Dib said, laying on the sweetness in his voice. "Well, if you promise not to cave my head in, I'll show you the place I'm talking about. It's not exactly a safer route, but you won't go mad trying to get through the Slightly Easier Hall of Kill-y Stuff."

Gaz made a noncommittal grunt and stretched out slightly, her nose barely nestled against Dib's neck. He smiled at her and shut his eyes. He had been hoping for a moment like that, where he could pull a bit of random knowledge out of his head and score bonus points with his sister. And the look on her face would have been worth any beatings she might have dished out.

It was weird that Gaz was starting to mellow out around him. When she had finished being frustrated at her game, Dib had heard her stomp upstairs - swearing all the way - and into her room. Moments later, she walked into his room, considerably less grouchy and in her pajamas, and climbed into his bed.

Sure, life wasn't perfect. He wasn't rich and famous like he wished he could have been. The kids at school still made fun of him and he still got bullied often. But his situation at home had improved so much that it negated anything bad that happened to him during the day. Maybe, just maybe, once he began regularly playing games with Gaz, he could convince her to go hunting some random monster with him.

Dib cracked an eye open to watch Gaz. Her breathing had slowed down quite a bit and the arm draped over him was hanging a little looser than it had before. He kissed the top of her head softly and stared up at the ceiling. Yeah, life wasn't perfect. But it was as close as it had been in a long, long time. And, if Dib had anything to say about it, it would keep getting closer and closer until it was.

"Sweet dreams, Gaz." He murmured into the silence of the room. Not long after, Dib had joined his sister in dreamland.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

**Author's Notes**: Hoo-hah. I figured out how to END this thing. And, wouldn't you know it, it involved MORE SLEEP. Man, it took awhile. But last night, as I stayed awake for far too long, the answer came to me. Oh sure, I COULD have written about the actual encounter between Dib and Zim. But this isn't an action fic by any definition. So it was glossed over. And, because I didn't want GIR dismantled or roaming the earth on his own, I figured it was only right to give him a proper home. His basic personality was left alone, though Dib did tone it down so that the little robot wasn't bouncing off the walls.

Plus I have this mental image of GIR being really good at videogames for some reason, to the point of which he could form this weird sort of gamer rivalry with Gaz. I dunno,lots of weird ideas come to be when I'm exhausted.

So NOW I can finally say Daggers is finished. It was nice getting away from Potter fiction for awhile, but the break really was needed. It isn't healthy to spend mass amounts of time writing the same thing or you burn yourself out. At least, that's how it is for me.

Thanks to everyone who took a chance and read. I only wish I could find more DAGR fics. I like lesser-used pairings. And just because I can, thanks to Dibsthe1, whose insane, flailing spiels made me want to finish just to SPITE him (her?). So nyeh to you and all the folks who have nothing ebtter to do than leave rambling rants on ships you don't care to sail on.

I may write another Zim fic again in the future, but it'll probably be awhile and it'll probably be a one-shot. Multi-part fics tend to leave me with the worst of writer's blocks, as you can see. Until next time, dear readers! Oh, and before I forget - yes, I did get the Bubble Gun idea from Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Good game, that. Gaz and Dib would enjoy it. It combines things they both like - destroying crap and hunting monsters.


End file.
